Vasculitis

Sequential treatment with rituximab followed by mepolizumab may be a promising strategy to treat the systemic and respiratory manifestations of eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis, suggest findings from an observational study.

Recurrent venous thromboembolism is more common in people with granulomatosis with polyangiitis than among individuals in the general population who had an unprovoked first event, US researchers report in Rheumatology Advances in Practice.

An international group of experts has developed and validated classification criteria for eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis, GPA, and microscopic polyangiitis.

Neurologic and ocular manifestations are common among people with ANCA-associated vasculitis but vary by disease type, show data from the Vasculitis Clinical Research Consortium reported at the ACR Convergence 2021 virtual meeting.

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Patients who have granulomatosis with polyangiitis and high blood eosinophil levels at diagnosis are more likely to have severe disease and skin and neurological involvement than those with lower levels, French study findings indicate.

Rituximab is well tolerated and shows good efficacy in children with granulomatosis with polyangiitis or microscopic polyangiitis, global phase 2a study findings indicate.

A case report published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases describes the experience of a rituximab-treated patient with ANCA-associated vasculitis who developed severe COVID-19.

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Eric J Gapud and Philip Seo summarize the key milestones in management of severe granulomatosis with polyangiitis, and evaluate the possibility of long-term reduced intensity or drug-free remission for some patients.

Kronbichler A et al. Ann Rheum Dis 2018. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2017-212861

Apel F, Zychlinsky A, Kenny EF. Nat Rev Rheumatol 2018. doi: 10.1038/s41584-018-0039-z

Daxini A, Cronin K, Sreih AG. Clin Rheumatol 2018. doi: 10.1007/s10067-018-4177-0

Wallace ZS et al. Ann Rheum Dis 2018. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2018-213452

Terrier B et al. Ann Rheum Dis 2018; Advance online publication. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2017-212768